1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print information processing technique for processing rendering data in accordance with a layout that is set on a per-user or per-group basis.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been a growing interest, originating from portal sites, in the concept of “enterprise portal”. In the enterprise portal, by organizing information that is scattered throughout the intranet, such information can be displayed as a portlet for efficient usage. A portlet is a detachable user interface component that is managed and displayed on a portal server. Also, in the enterprise portal, layout settings can be made freely for each user, and each individual can customize the display and arrangement of the portlet, whereby a more efficient work area is provided for each user.
In general, the portlet for use when users operate as a team at the intranet level is essentially the same. However, even if the display content of the portlet is the same, each user often changes its arrangement to meet his/her preference. When data for a portal page is printed under such an environment, the data that is arranged on the display screen of a user who orders print execution is printed. When a distributor distributes a print result to his/her team members for information sharing among team members, the customization of the display screen set by each member loses meaning. In other words, when a person to whom a printed matter is distributed (recipient) has changed the layout or the arrangement of his/her display screen through customization, the changed layout or arrangement does not conform to the distributed printed matter, resulting in a difficult-to-understand layout with respect to what is arranged at which position thereof. Accordingly, there has been proposed a method in which the layout in accordance with the distributor's preference is registered in advance and is specified upon printing to make a recipient understand easily, resulting in a printed matter with a print layout in accordance with the distributor's preference (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-157716).
However, when the layout in accordance with the distributor's preference is specified for printout, original screen information becomes information for a user himself/herself who provides a print instruction, whereby the layout state displayed on a portal screen by a recipient cannot be reflected. Consequently, a printed matter, which has been printed with the layout that may be difficult to understand for the recipient, is distributed.
According to the present invention, data specified by a distributor can be printed in a similar arrangement to that of the display state corresponding to the layout which is viewed by a person, to whom a printed matter is distributed, on his/her portal screen.